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After realizing the day before that our tickets didn’t correspond to seats like last year’s Monumentour, I arrived at the venue around noon to wait in line for a spot in the pit. My friend and I planned our strategy and the sprint down a giant flight of stairs to the stage paid off, with us ending up front and center on the barricade, leading to the most epic concert experience of my life.

When this tour was announced, I was super confused as to how Hoodie Allen, Wiz Khalifa and Fall Out Boy ended up on the bill together, along with later additions MAX and DJ Drama. It was nice, though, to see the interesting mix of people that turned up and all started talking regardless of who they were there for. DJ Drama started things off and tried to get people pumped up by playing a mix of Fall Out Boy and Wiz songs, leading into up and comer MAX playing “Puppeteer” and “Mug Shot.” While the crowd didn’t really know his songs, his amazing stage presence probably gained him a lot of new fans that night. He’s insanely energetic and dances across the stage, pulling out moves and spins frequently. His voice is awesome as well. He’s a true talent and it’s apparent why Pete Wentz wanted to sign him to DCD2.
DJ Drama played during every set change, which was helpful to keep people energetic and excited. It was a nice change from the awkward nothing that usually happens in between sets. Rapper Hoodie Allen took the stage next, expressing how extremely appreciative he was to be on this tour. Though he was an opener, I saw more than a few Hoodie shirts in the crowd, and a ton of people were singing and rapping along to his songs, particularly the Ed Sheeran collaboration, “All About It.”

Wiz Khalifa was up next, and his set was interesting to say the least. While I didn’t know more than a handful of his songs, he got the crowd rowdy, especially when inflatable joints were thrown into the crowd in place of the usual balloons. The crowd got really insane towards the end of the set when Pete Wentz ran onstage to play bass on a song, getting everyone ready for Fall Out Boy to come on next.

In the space between DJ Drama and Fall Out Boy, MAX came out again to perform his biggest hit so far, “Gibberish” with Hoodie Allen. While it was an interesting placement choice, it paid off, as more people got into it since Fall Out Boy was on next and a lot more people knew this song. His energy again never wavered, with even more dancing going into this performance and even a split at one point. I truly can’t wait to see what he does next, as his live persona made me even more of a fan than I already was.

Fall Out Boy have been my favorite band for a very long time, and finally being front row for one of their shows is something I can now cross off my bucket list. They burst onstage with “Sugar We’re Going Down,” and went almost nonstop with songs from all over their back-catalog. Onstage they were playful and had fun with each other, with Pete throwing picks at drummer Andy Hurley and Patrick Stump and guitarist Joe Trohman jamming together.

Midway through, Wentz, Stump and Trohman ran to a small stage in the back of the arena to play “Immortals” acoustic, along with “Young Volcanoes,” a nice surprise for the fans in the back. Hurley was showcased while they made their way back up front, with a loud and heavy drum solo over some tracks, a good way to give him some time in the spotlight.

“Centuries” ended the set before heavy chanting brought them back on for an encore of “My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark” and the classic “Saturday,” from their first album, Take This To Your Grave. The last song separated some of the younger Fall Out Boy fans from the older, but most of the arena was still screaming along. And those who have seen them play this song before know that Pete Wentz brings back his screaming harmonies and at the end, comes into the crowd, making it feel like an intimate club show instead of one in a stadium. While I’ve seen this part from rows back a few times, this time I was right there holding him up. Middle school me never could’ve imagined this moment when she first heard From Under the Cork Tree, but now it’s a memory I’ll never forget.